Deciphering 1921 Census – Scotland

[amelialen]

Hi,

I’m having a really hard time reading some of the information about my Lithuanian family on the 1921 Census in Scotland. At most, I can only decipher a few letters. My great-great grandparents (Jonas and Maggie Vissniauckas) are the 20th/21st down on the page. They were born in Lithuania, but no one in my family today knows where in the country, which leaves a pretty big area to cover when researching. Some things I need help identifying:

- The census shows what looks like a city or town on it, though I can’t make it out.

- I’m also struggling to read the company Jonas and his oldest son (also Jonas) worked at—looks like something LTD Coalmasters. They were living in Motherwell in the parish of Dalziel, the county of Lanark during this time and were coal miners/hewers, so if you recognise the company, please do tell!

- The nationality of Jonas and Maggie also appears to be something Pole (which I know a lot of Lithuanians were incorrectly referred to back then). If anyone can clarify what this says too, I’ll be eternally grateful.

- Lastly, the street name is confusing to me because I haven’t come across it before in any other records I have of this family. I know they lived at both Russell Place and Paterson Street in Motherwell around the same time.

Thank you in advance for any assistance!

[sarah]

Hello Amelia,

The images posted were hard to read, are you able to crop to just the parts that interests you so we can make the writing larger ?

Regards

Sarah

[amelialen]

Hi,

Hopefully these help!

[WMO]

Hello,
The census is 1921 ref. 639/2/6.
The address is 38 Park Street, Motherwell (now demolished, but map here) :
https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/index.cfm#zoom=17.5&lat=55.79055&lon=-3.98601&layers=168&b=1
Jonas and his son Jonas both work for Dixons Ltd, Coalmasters
In the Nationality column it states:  Res. Pole
in other words, resident in Britain but nationality Polish
There are several other people on the same page who appear to be born in the same place in Lithuania. It is spelled (as far as I can make out) Swalku, Swualku, or Swualkii - I would guess that this is Suwalki - now in north eastern Poland but then in Lithuania.
It is not easy to read the handwriting exactly, especially if the enumerator was struggling with an unusual (to him) placename.
I am fairly confident with my guess at the placename, but I may be wrong.
I hope that this helps.
Regards,
Bill

[doddsie4]

      I also think it is Suwalki, Poland.    It is just west of present day Lithuania, north of the Podlaskie area.     Krasnopol is next to Suwalki.     This is from an The Times , Atlas of the World, Eighth Edition.

[WMO]

For the avoidance of doubt, the image posted has the address of the first household on the page - 51 Park Street; Jonas and family live at 38 Park Street.
Scottish 1921 census images show several households on the same page.
Regards,
Bill

[WMO]

I was wrong about the employment details. Both Jonas and his son are recorded in the employment column as 'OW' = out of work. This means that Dixons Ltd, Coalmasters were their former employers.
In view of the date of the census it would be worth looking into industrial relations in the coal mining industry at that time.
Regards,
Bill

[amelialen]

Thank you all for your help. I really appreciate the fresh sets of eyes. I believe you may be right about most things.

- Amelia

[Geoff-E]

The 1921 census took place in June rather than April because of industrial unrest.

Many of my Cumbrian relatives were described as "Coalminer (Hewer) out of Normal Employment".